Rather than an alert, could I make this populate a box on my page? IE my select box sits in an empty box which gets populated when you select a value?

Extremely long (but simple) code below if needed. It actually goes up to value 76 but I have slimmed down!

<div>
<label for="select1">Select 1</label>
<select id="select1">
<option>Please select something</option>
<option value="1">Beckett League</option>
<option value="2">Craven and District League Premier Division</option>
<option value="3">Craven and District League Division One</option>
<option value="4">Craven and District League Division Two</option>
<option value="5">Craven and District League Division Three</option>
</select>
</div>
<script>
var select1 = document.getElementById("select1"),
select2 = document.getElementById("select2");
function checkResult(){
if(select1.value === "1") {alert("You play in the Beckett League . The Beckett League isn't currently a part99 of the football pyramid. This means that your team would have to move leagues if you were to progress to the football league.");}
else if(select1.value === "2") {alert("You play in the Craven and District League Premier Division . The Craven and District League Premier Division league sits at level 14 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 10 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 14 years to reach the Premier League.");}
else if(select1.value === "3") {alert("You play in the Craven and District League Division One . The Craven and District League Division One league sits at level 15 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 11 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 15 years to reach the Premier League.");}
else if(select1.value === "4") {alert("You play in the Craven and District League Division Two . The Craven and District League Division Two league sits at level 16 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 12 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 16 years to reach the Premier League.");}
else if(select1.value === "5") {alert("You play in the Craven and District League Division Three . The Craven and District League Division Three league sits at level 17 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 13 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 17 years to reach the Premier League.");}
}
select1.onchange = checkResult;
select2.onchange = checkResult;
</script>

alert() hasn't been needed in scripts on the web since Netscape 4 died. Since then it has been possible to display the message directly in the web page itself where you can style it how you want. Since then alert() has been used mainly for debugging - so you can see if particular code is reached or what value a variable holds at a given point in the code. Now that Firefox has a built in debugger (as all the other major browsers have had for some time) it is no longer needed even for that purpose and so is effectively a completely obsolete command.

Rather than an alert, could I make this populate a box on my page? IE my select box sits in an empty box which gets populated when you select a value?

As felgall says, an alert is not really the way to go. More on that later.

First, let's look at how we can tidy up the code.

Start off by removing the reference to select2, it's not needed.Then let's define an object literal and assign the text you wish to display when the dropdown changes, to numerical keys:

var select1 = document.getElementById("select1"),
texts = {
1: "You play in the Beckett League ...",
2: "You play in the Craven and District ...",
3: "You play in the Craven and District ...",
4: "You play in the Craven and District ...",
5: "You play in the Craven and District ..."
};

Then change the select1.onchange event handler thus:

select1.onchange = function(){
alert(texts[this.value]);
};

Already, that's much neater.

Now, let's define a <div> element below the select element to insert the result into:

<div id="result"></div>

Then, let's get a reference to it and use JavaScript's innerHTML function to change its content.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Dropdown example</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<label for="select1">Select 1</label>
<select id="select1">
<option>Please select something</option>
<option value="1">Beckett League</option>
<option value="2">Craven and District League Premier Division</option>
<option value="3">Craven and District League Division One</option>
<option value="4">Craven and District League Division Two</option>
<option value="5">Craven and District League Division Three</option>
</select>
</div>
<div id="results"></div>
<script>
var select1 = document.getElementById("select1"),
results = document.getElementById("results"),
texts = {
1: "You play in the Beckett League . The Beckett League isn't currently a part99 of the football pyramid. This means that your team would have to move leagues if you were to progress to the football league.",
2: "You play in the Craven and District League Premier Division . The Craven and District League Premier Division league sits at level 14 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 10 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 14 years to reach the Premier League.",
3: "You play in the Craven and District League Division One . The Craven and District League Division One league sits at level 15 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 11 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 15 years to reach the Premier League.",
4: "You play in the Craven and District League Division Two . The Craven and District League Division Two league sits at level 16 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 12 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 16 years to reach the Premier League.",
5: "You play in the Craven and District League Division Three . The Craven and District League Division Three league sits at level 17 of the football pyramid. If you were to win promotion every year, it would take you 13 years to reach the Football League (League 2) . It would take 17 years to reach the Premier League."
};
select1.onchange = function(){
results.innerHTML = texts[this.value];
};
</script>
</body>
</html>

Did you get this sorted out in the meantime or are you still looking for a way to make this work?

Hi Pullo, hope you enjoyed your time off

This does work but there are some tweaks I'd like to make (mainly cosmetic)

1 - I'd like the text to match my CSS for the rest of teh site2 - I'd love to add a Facebook and Twitter Share button that posted a custom message if clicked. IE: I play at step 6, what level do you play at? find out here...

2 - I'd love to add a Facebook and Twitter Share button that posted a custom message if clicked. IE: I play at step 6, what level do you play at? find out here...

If I'm not mistaken, this is a different topic from what we discussed above (please correct me if I am wrong).I would therefore suggest starting a new thread where you lay out what you currently have and what you require.Feel free to mention me or tag me in your new thread and I'll answer you there.